Love Potions
by colortheskiesblue
Summary: James Potter was very desperate. Lily Evans still hated his guts. Sirius should never be allowed to have ideas... EVER. - Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Series


"**Dabbling in Love Potions"**

Sirius Black should not be allowed to have ideas… ever. James Potter found this out the hard way when he was sixteen.

It started out like any other Hogwarts day, James admits. The Marauders were all enjoying a nice curry dinner and blueberry pie for dessert. They were talking of upcoming shenanigans that were planned over the summer holiday.

While describing in-depth Padfoot's plan to uproot all the toilets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and have them perform a nice dance number in the Great Hall, James saw a wave of curly red hair. Toilets were suddenly the last thing on his mind.

There are rules to being a Marauder and each member made a rule. Although, James hates the very idea of rules, he had to make an exception because he was constantly being belittled about his chances with the scrumptious Lily Evans. How could a guy win over the girl of his dreams with his best mates goading him all the time?

"Not again," Padfoot huffed.

"It happens every single year, Padfoot," Moony added.

"Can't we just tell him?" Wormtail whined.

James reared his head around to look at his best mates. They had the unfortunate inability of sympathy.

"Tell me what?" he snapped.

"Err, it breaks Prongs' Rule," Wormtail said with his beady little eyes darting to Padfoot.

"What Wormtail means to say is that Lily Evans doesn't give a flying hoot about you and you should just stop while you're ahead," Padfoot supplied an unwanted opinion.

James dismissed them with a wave of the hand and glanced down the table to see Lily Evans eating curry.

"I'm going to go ask her out," James announced as his hand flew up to his hair.

"Prongs, have you ever considered stop asking her out and perhaps change the habits that causes her to hate you?" Moony suggested.

"What? She loves me for me. She just says she hates me because she knows guys like the thrill of the chase!"

Moony just shook his head in disbelief and shoveled some curry into his mouth.

"Have you considered maybe skipping the step that involves her falling madly in love with you and just get a ruddy love potion already?" Padfoot suggested and, at the time, James thought Padfoot was a genius.

James' lips turned up into a grin at the idea. A love potion! He always thought they were hokey and something that little girls dabbled in. In this case, James saw potential. If he gave Lily Evans a love potion and lowered her inhibitions, then she would realize that she need not play hard to get any longer.

"James, no," Moony said akin to a father scolding his child. "That is the worst idea in the history of ideas!"

That was how the Marauders started to make love potions in their dormitory. Well, Moony refused to help but kept a close eye on them to ensure they didn't accidentally poison Lily or anything.

They injected the love potion into homemade truffles that James' mum had sent. The plan was in motion.

When James gave Lily the box of truffles and asked her out on a date for the first Hogsmeade weekend, she turned him down and refused the chocolaty goodness. James left them sitting next to her on the couch in the common room.

Little did James know, she gave the box of truffles to a third year. That was how a gaggle of third years fell madly in love with James Potter.

Lily must have known something was up because she gave him more dirty looks than usual. When she tried to talk to the third year girls, they would only lust over James as though he were the best thing the world had ever seen.

Plan A backfired.

Wormtail invented Plan B. He suggested that they mail the love potion to Lily anonymously. That way, she would eat them because she wouldn't think they were from James.

Moony, always the sensible one, suggested that they fix the wrongs of Plan A first, but James didn't have time to brew an antidote and give it five different third years. He had more love potion to brew.

Plan B backfired as well because James, Padfoot and Wormtail all stared at Lily when she got the box of chocolates in the mail. When she glanced down at them, they all had their elbows propped on the table and gave her their undivided attention.

The chocolates were then thrown into James' face.

That led to a brainstorm session in their dormitory. How in the ruddy hell were they to get a love potion to Lily Evans if she was already suspicious that they were committing tomfoolery?

"What if we send them through the mail but say they're from her mum?" James suggested.

"That's original," Padfoot said bitterly. "Especially since we already sent them through the mail and got found out."

"What if we pay a visit to the house elves and ask them to slip a little into her dinner?" Wormtail supplied.

"Yeah, Wormtail, because the house elves will know exactly where Evans sits," Padfoot snapped.

Wormtail blushed a deep crimson and didn't propose any more ideas after that. James sighed heavily and fell back onto his bed.

"Maybe you ought not to give her a love potion," Moony spoke up. "Just try being nicer to people and not hex every Slytherin you see. Stop asking her out every time you talk to her."

"Alright, Moony, we'll make that Plan Z," James said and went back to thinking of love potions.

James wasn't going to lie, he quite liked third years following him around all the time. They swooned over him and were keen to be his little slaves. He let the love potion course through their system for three days before he gave in to making the antidote. That was only because Lily started yelling at him over it.

Plan C involved playing a dashing knight in shining armor. James heard of Muggle fairytales from one of the lovesick third years about how a prince would kill a dragon to get the heart of the princess. Now, James only needed to find a dragon to slay.

When no dragons could be found, he decided that he'd venture into the Forbidden Forest and kill in there for Lily. Wormtail began to cop out of the idea until James suggested he transform and travel in James' pocket.

They marched into the Forbidden Forest with wands at the ready. Eventually, they ran into a herd of enormous spiders, and James decided that they were as close to a dragon as one could get.

Sneaking up on spiders is pretty easy to do. Once a plan to kill one is in motion, it's not so easy anymore. They're very protective of each other and their pinchers are quite sharp. Another thing, spider webs and fur don't really mix that well together. Padfoot would confirm that in a heartbeat.

So Plan C was a failure because the Marauders ended up running for their lives.

When Halloween approached, James tested out Plan D.

During the annual feast, James enchanted jack-o-lanterns to sprout feet and arms. Hundreds of them burst through the doors of the Great Hall and jumped on all house tables. They tap danced with little canes and top hats. When their routine was over, they exploded.

Their detonation didn't go exactly how James planned. They were supposed to explode and the pumpkin bits were supposed to rise in the air to spell _Go out with me Lily Evans_. Instead, everyone was rained upon with pumpkin guts.

Plan E through H all involved love potions. They all failed miserably. Quite a few prefects started to follow James around like lovesick puppies. A group of fifth year Gryffindor girls ingested some of the potion as well. They were colossal failures and James vowed to stop the nonsense with the love potions.

Plan I rolled around when Christmas fever was rippling through the student body. James, Padfoot, Wormtail and even Moony joined in on the festivities by hanging mistletoe through every inch of the castle. It was special mistletoe though. Unless a kiss happened, nobody could get out of the mistletoe bubble.

James thought that if Lily just kissed him, fireworks would go off and she'd admit her feelings.

People rather enjoyed the mistletoe and generally liked being forced to complete the tradition. That was until James got Lily under the mistletoe.

"You have to kiss me or we'll be stuck under here forever." James smirked.

Lily raised her wand above her head and shouted, "_Lacarnum inflamarae!_" The mistletoe caught on fire and died. Lily stepped out of the bubble smugly and went on her merry way.

Christmas break at the Potter Manor was just as productive as he thought it would be. His mother lacked any excellent advice to win over Lily Evans. She suggested being a gentleman and treating her like a lady. His father, however, suggested that a grand gesture was the way to go and that flowers didn't hurt either.

So when they arrived back at Hogwarts, James vowed he would only give it one more shot and be done with the whole project if he failed again. There was only so much of the chase a guy can take.

One day at dinner, James waited anxiously for the main event to take place. When dessert was served, it happened. Daffodils and lilies rained from the ceiling around Lily. She got up to avoid the shower, but the flowers just followed her.

A flock of house elves entered the Great Hall with lilies tucked behind their floppy ears and daffodils covering their smocks. In their hands, they each held cellophane-wrapped daffodils. They scattered around Lily and held them out to her.

One house elf, Trixie, spoke up in a squeaky voice to say, "Miss Lily please accept Mister James' offer for a date." Trixie bowed down to the group and held out the flowers to Lily.

James rose from his spot at the table. Clenched in his hand were cellophane-wrapped lilies. The house elves parted like Moses parted the red sea. He held out the flowers with a sideways grin but didn't say anything.

Lily took them in her hand slowly, eyes narrowed in doubt. The flower rain ceased as multicolored petals surrounded her feet and stuck in her red hair.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Leaning forward, she pecked him gently on the cheek. Her face lingered near his ear and whispered, "This doesn't mean I'll go out with you."

With that, Lily Evans gathered up the several of the daffodils from the house elves and exited the Great Hall.

That night, the Marauders all sat around to discuss the breakthrough James had with Lily. He was beyond elated.

"I just need one more grand gesture!"

"Prongs, you made your grand gesture," Moony pointed out. "Just listen to me for once. Stop hexing Slytherins and messing up your hair. Just be nice to people, help the lower classmen out. She's starting to see the good in you so build on that."

James Potter finally listened to Remus Lupin. Every time he felt the urge to ruffle his hair, he painstakingly attempted to stop himself from the action. He went up to younger students who looked frustrated with homework and offered to help them out. His wand was neatly tucked away in his pocket at all times while walking around the castle.

He had even given permission to his friends to slap him if he did anything foolish or that Lily would despise.

Slowly, Lily began to say hello to him in the corridors and strike up conversations about class assignments. James thought he'd burst with joy.

When the final Hogsmeade weekend of the year loomed, James decided it was time to ask her out once again. For hours he wrestled with his hair to lie flat on his head. Although it wasn't perfect, it was good enough. He dressed in a suit and tie. He smelled like shampoo. Clenched in his hands were cellophane-wrapped daffodils.

He spotted Lily sitting by the lake with her friends. They were laughing and joking. Puffs of smoke escaped Lily's wand. The smoke took the forms of animals that scurried around.

James knelt down next to Lily and extended the flowers to her. She took them instantly and shoved them under her nose to sniff.

"Would you do me the honor of going to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily lifted her face out from the flowers and smiled softly.

"Sure."

"Really?"

Lily laughed and nodded her head in the positive.

That Hogsmeade trip was the beginning of a blossoming courtship.


End file.
